Flight School Reveals Risks of Multiple Airports in One City Through Real-World Training
The rule at the flight school was that the applicants would have at least two mock check rides in house before they paid $500 or more to a DPE for the real thing. I was designated the check airman for a particular private pilot applicant. His CFI asked me to put the applicant through his paces, showing no mercy, to find the soft spots in his training. I accepted the assignment. The applicant was instructed to create a cross-country VFR flight plan for the mock ride using the weather that was available that morning. He had been told the plan had to be detailed. I wanted to see a door-to-door navlog, complete with time to climb and individual legs, estimated time en route, etc., because you are going to be flying with people you care about, and perhaps someday you will be the person administering the instruction. READ MORE: Teaching Someone to Fly by Osmosis Doesn't Work READ MORE: Restoring Right Stuff Can Build Student Pilot Confidence I am a big believer in encouraging commercial-level performance from day one of training because it's easier to aim high than to have to clean a client up later. The applicant ate this up. His CFI instructed him to create a VFR navlog for a flight from Crest Airpark (S36) south of Seattle to Spokane, Washington. It would have been straightforward, except that there are three major airports in Spokane—Fairchild Air Force Base (KSKA), Spokane International (KGEG), and Felts Field (KSFF). The applicant planned for KGEG because he had flown there on a family vacation. Unfortunately, the DPE asked the applicants to plan for KSFF. What we had here was either a failure to communicate or expectation bias. The learner’s confusion presented a teachable moment. Airports are often named for the largest city within the region, and when there is more than one large airport in the vicinity, it can be confusing. Visit a website like AirNav.com and drop "Seattle" into the search box, and you will get no fewer than 14 responses. Two of them are seaplane bases, nine are heliports, and three are used by airplanes—King County International-Boeing Field (KBFI), Seattle-Tacoma International (KSEA), and Seattle Paine Field International (KPAE). Telling a student pilot—or anyone else unfamiliar with the Seattle area—to "plan a flight to Seattle" will likely result in confusion, especially if they intend to fly into Boeing Field or Sea-Tac. The airports are 5 nm apart, which doesn't give a pilot a lot of time to correct a mistake during approach. The FAA (or its precursor, the Civil Aeronautics Administration) figured this out decades ago and decided to split the alphabet when it came to identifying the automatic terminal information system at these airports. The designation Alpha to Mike belongs to Sea-Tac. November to Zulu belongs to KBFI. The pilots accessing the ATIS for "Seattle" have a better chance of getting the correct information when they know the alphabet split. Runway Alignment Adding to the confusion of airport identification is that runways are usually aligned into the prevailing winds. To some extent all airports can look alike from the air, especially for a low-time or unfamiliar pilot. According to instructors I know from Wisconsin, before GPS and the magenta line became ubiquitous in the aircraft, it was not terribly uncommon for student pilots to get confused when they attempted to fly to either Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH) in Oshkosh or Fond du Lac County Airport (KFLD), which is 13 miles to the south. Both airports have runways aligned 18/36 and 09/27. I was skeptical when I heard this as KOSH is towered, and KFLD is not, and the runways are smaller—18/26 (5,941 by 100 feet) and 09/27 (3,604 by 75). However it's been a long time since I was a student pilot. Instructors who take their learners to the airports—sometimes on the same day—point out the differences such as the crosswind runways at KOSH—05/23 (3,424 by 75) and 13/31 (3,061 by 75)—which, so say the CFIs, are sometimes mistaken for taxiways. Aviation professionals can get confused as well. In 2004 a corporate pilot who thought he was ostensibly lined up for Runway 31 at KBFI in VFR conditions was, in reality, lined up for Runway 34 at Renton Municipal Airport (KRNT). The airports are 4 nm apart, basically side by side with a greenbelt and a freeway between them. Approaching from the south, as this pilot was, you see KBFI first and a moment or two later KRNT—unless you are slightly to the east, in which case you notice the lake off the north end of the runway at Renton and fixate on that until the runway comes into view. Since it was afternoon, the flat light made it challenging to see details on the ground. The pilot was talking to Boeing tower. So was I, as I was at the end of an IFR approach operating in VFR conditions, preparing to configure the aircraft for landing. I was ahead of him in my mighty Cessna 172, and keeping my speed up as requested. The controller must have noticed the corporate jet was slightly off course, because the controller asked him to verify which airport he wanted to go to. When the jet pilot replied he was lined up on Boeing, the controller replied he wasn't, then asked if he saw the red-and-white Cessna ahead of him and slightly to his left in the 11 o'clock position. At this point my copilot started to frantically look over her shoulder to make sure we weren't about to get run over—we weren't. Boeing tower then asked me to rock my wings, which I did, with the enthusiasm of a pilot over FISK inbound to Oshkosh. The jet replied he had us in sight, and was instructed to follow us in. We were assigned the little runway. We were down and clear when the jet landed on the big runway. The jet parked at the FBO next door to the flight school. Shortly after landing, the pilot came over and thanked us for the help—he explained he got confused because he knew Boeing had a facility in Renton. "Here too," I replied, pointing across the runway at the ginormous buildings with "BOEING" on them. Tips for Avoiding Airport Confusion When planning a flight, always double-check the airport identifier. Don't rely on the name of the city because this can be misleading. Mexico Memorial Airport (KMYJ), for example, is in Missouri. Look up the details of the airport in the FAA Chart Supplement for the most pertinent information including runway length, alignment, and lighting systems. This is particularly critical at night when ground clutter can make it difficult to discern an empty parking lot with light stands from runway approach lights. Check reliable online airport information pages, as they often have details about nuances of the airport—for example, "do not mistake automobile track west of the airport for the runway." Pay special attention to communication frequencies, and when making radio calls to nontowered airports, begin and end each transmission with the name of the facility you are talking to.